Circuit-breaker.



No. 736,502. PATENTED 'AUG. 1a, 1903.

-T. B. NIELS, JR. GIRG BREAK APPLIOATION FILED JAN. 03.

30 MODEL waweesoa Patented August 18, 1903.

PATENT OFFICE.

THOMAS E. DANIELS, JR, OF PROVO, UTAH.

CIRCUIT-BREAKER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent N 0. 736,502, dated August18, 1903.

Application filed January 2, 1903 Serial No. 137,427. (No model.)

To all whom, it may concern:

Be it known that I, THOMAS E. DANIELS,J1'. a citizen of the UnitedStates, residing at Provo, in the county of Utah and State of Utah, haveinvented certain new and useful Improvements in Circuit-Breakers, ofwhich the following is a full, clear, and exact description.

This invention relates to manually-operated circuit-breakers,'the objectbeing to provide a simple and cheap form of apparatus which can be usedfor either inside or outside service and by means of which a circuit canbe tapped at any point to temporarily or permanently obtain currenttherefrom for supplying translating devices.

The device is especially adapted for tapping high-tension lines tosupply transformers, dad; and it consists, in general and essentially,of ahandle of insulating material more or less elongated and provided atone end with a metallic hook of peculiar construction adapted to engagewith the main line-Wire in a manner to suspend the handle therefrom andprovided with a flexible or other conductor, including a fuse whendesirable, and having one end in electrical connection with said hookand the other free and adapted to be connected with the branch circuit.When operating on complete metallic circuits, two or more of thesedevices will be used, one for each side of the circuit; but they areentirely independent of each other, so that one at a time can beadjusted to or from the wire, and thus avoid the excessive arcing orsurging of the current which usually occurs when a double-pole switchbreaks on both sides simultaneously.

My invention is adapted for a variety of uses in connection withelectric circuits and has been applied more generally by me inconnection with high-tension lines; but the device being merely a handlewith a hook on the end of it it is obvious that it can be temporarilysuspended on the main wire or wires at any point where desired and thatit is especially adapted for temporary service.

My improved device will be described in detail with reference to theaccompanying drawings, in Which-- Figure 1 is a perspective view showingmain line-wires supported upon a pole and connected to branch wiresthrough the improved circuit-breaker, and Fig. 2 is a detail of theupper end of the circuit-breaker in section.

Referring to the drawings by letter, the

circuit-breaker consists of a handle a, which will be made of insulatingmaterial, such as hard rubber or wood, and of a length determined by.such considerations as the necessity for reaching and the amount ofinsulation necessary by reason of the voltage of the circuit upon whichthe device is to be used. At one extremity of the handle is fitted ametallic head 1), consisting of atubular extension secured by means of across-pin b or otherwise and having a slot 19 cut into one side andupward lengthwise a short distance to form a hook, the tongue of whichis indicated by 12 Thus when a stretched wire is directed into the slotthe handle can be suspended therefrom. Asa means for maintaining goodelectrical contact between the metallic head b and the wire (indicatedby 0) when the latter is engaged by the hook I apply a strap-spring e tothe hook, securing it at one end by means of the pin b or in any otherconvenient manner and extending its free end upward through the slot bin such position that the spring must be deflected when the wire entersthe hook and be held under tension against the wire to maintain intimatecontact therewith. For the purpose of connecting this hook with a branchcircuit I preferably attach a short length of flexible conductor to themetallic head, such conductor being indicated atfin Fig. 2; but thisconductor need not be considered a portion of the device. It will alsobe found desirable under certain conditions to insert a fusibleconductor between the metallic head and the branch circuit, and for thispurpose I provide two laterally-projecting arms g and 1}, one of whichis secured directly to the metallic head or hook and the other to theinsulating-handle at a suitable distance from the first, depending uponthe isolation required by the voltage of the line, and stretched betweenthe outer extremities of these arms I fix a fusible conductor 19. Theflexible conductor f for connection to the branch circuit is thenapplied to the insulated arm 2', as seen in Fig. l.

The operation is as follows: In order to connect the device with a barewire of an electric circuit, it is simply necessary to hook it over theWire, allowing it to hang therefrom and connecting a wire of the branchcircuit with the metallic head by means of the flexible conductor f. Iprefer, however, especially on high-tension lines, to provide specialpoints for applying the hook. These are illustrated in Fig. 1, where itwill be seen that the main line-wires c c are supported on insulators oc, secured to the cross-arms ofa pole. Adjacent to each insulator, butseparated therefrom a fewinches, is a second insulator c and a shortstiff wire 0 extends between the two insulators and forms a spur fromthe main wire, as seen. The hook of the circuit-breaker is adapted to becaught over this spur, thus avoiding disturbance or injury to the mainconductor. The branch circuit-wires,supported,as usual,on the same pole,are indicated'at q q and are connected, respectively, with the arms 1't' or directly with the metallic head of the circuit-breaker. Foroutside service, Where it is desired to prevent the circuit breaker frombeing swayed by the wind or otherwise disarranged, the lower end of thehandle may be temporarily connected with a cross-piece r by means of apin 7", or it may be otherwise supported.

junction between the main and branch conductors a circuit can be madeand broken by the simple operation of hooking and unhooking thedescribed device, and as each side of the circuit can be brokenseparately the arcing which ordinarily occurs is lessened and thereaction on the line, which occurs more especially in multiphasesystems, is avoided.

Having described my invention, I claim- The combinationof a line-wire, aspurleading therefrom, a branch Wire and a circuit breaker consisting ofa handle of insulating material carrying a metallic hook engaging saidspur and a conductor leading from said hook to the branch Wire,substantially as described.

In witness whereof I subscribe my signature in presence of twowitnesses.

THOMAS E. DANIELS, JR.

Witnesses:

H. S. TANNER, BARLOW FERGUSON.

